Umbridge reads Harry Potter with Hogwarts
by SmartiesChocolate222
Summary: Feeling so angry with Harry, Umbrige is debating what to do when 7 books and a note end up on her desk. Reading the books fic TicTacs22,my old account still active with this story so I'm not stealing or anything if you've read it Set in Harry's 5th year
1. Chapter 1

_**AN- set the day after Harry's first day of school in 5th year. Basically a day after Harry, Ron and Hermione's first lesson with Umbridge. I've always wanted 2 do a reading the books fic so I am! 3 nice reviews plz! Or constructive criticism as my drama teacher used to say! **_

_**Prologue**_

Umbridge's POV

That Harry Potter, he's just an attention seeking BRAT! HOW DARE he try to undermine ME in my own lesson! Even worse undermining me with LIES! Lord Vold…. You-Know-Who will NEVER come back as HE IS DEAD! I can't believe people even believe Potter's lies! Cornelius, the MINISTER would never allow this! I must do something about his obvious LIES! What to do though, I thought while pacing in my office. I mean it must destroy his lies, humiliate him and also absolutely destroy the career of Albus Dumbledore.

"OH, THIS IS HOPELE….!" I began, but before finishing that sentence a bright blue light filled the room and 7 books and a note landed from a swirling vortex onto my desk.

I was going to hex into oblivion but seeing the words "truth about Harry Potter" and "Umbridge you will be happy" made me stop and slowly pick up the letter.

It read:-

Dear Dolores Umbridge

I have sent you 7 books explaining the truth about Harry Potter while he's at Hogwarts. The first 4 and part of the 5th are obviously from the past, however the rest of the 5th and 6th and 7th are sent from me in the future to you in the past, hopefully at the beginning of Harry Potter's 5th year. I sent these using time-turner magic, as some people have developed it in my time. Umbridge you will be happy to know these books are ALL TRUE! Nothing in them is false! So you will get the truth from him if you read these books in front of EVERYONE at Hogwarts.

LLP, NO get off the QUILL! Ohh fine then and JSP and ASP

FINALLY, this would get Potter expelled, or maybe even sent to Azkaban for telling all those lies!


	2. The Boy Who Lived Part 1

_**A/N BTW I do plan on doing every book, no matter how long it takes me! Review plz thank you to Lily887787 for their review! **_

Harry's POV

I slowly opened my eyes to see Peeves in my face blowing in my ear like in 3rd year!

"PEEVES QUIT DOING THAT!" I yelled forgetting that I would wake everyone else up. Peeves just blew a raspberry at me and shot through the door slamming it shut in the process and probably waking up everyone in the Gryffindor tower.

"Harrrry! Would you stop waking US up on Monday mornings just 'cause Peeves wakes you up, I still had 5 more minutes!" Ron moaned, sleepily rubbing his eyes and diving back under his covers.

"Well, we all might as well get up now and go down to breakfast before class starts," Harry stated.

Once the word breakfast was heard Ron, Neville, Dean and only after seeing Dean get out of bed, Seamus all got out of bed too and started to get dressed.

Ron and Harry, who met up with Hermione in the Great Hall, found some seats quite near to the Staff Table and dug into some sausages and bacon.

"Hem, hem, excuse me everyone" Umbridge half-shouted to the entire hall, "There will be no classes for a while…. Hem hem that was NOT an invitation to talk, as I was saying, no classes because we will be reading seven books detailing the life of Harry Potter AND also Corneli… the Minister has approved this so no one can sit out and not read with us." She finished with a smug smile.

"WHAT! That is totally unfair, why MY life!" I exclaimed, wanting to hex Umbridge's smug smile right of her face.

"QUIET MR POTTER! 20 points from Gryffindor for speaking out of turn and rudely to a teacher! We are reading these so your lies will be revealed! And everyone will see what a despicable liar you ARE!" Umbridge exploded all in one breath.

"Dolores! There's no need to speak to him like that!" Professor McGonagall said to Umbridge.

"Well then, if we must read these books, I would like to invite a few people to read with us and I would like to say, no points may be taken from anyone for something they have done in the past or will do in the future" Dumbledore decided. Fawkes suddenly appeared next to him, and then while some people gasped he spoke quietly to Fawkes before he disappeared again in a flash of flames. After hearing this he relaxed thinking of the time

"While we wait for our guests to arrive, everyone finish your breakfast and chat." Dumbledore announced. After a few awkward seconds everyone started chatting.

About 5 minutes later, Cornelius Fudge, Madam Bones, Percy Weasley and Kingsley Shacklebolt walked through the hall doors.

"Oh, hello Minister, Madam Bones, Kingsley, Mr Weasley, I'm so glad you could all make it!" Umbridge said looking very pleased with herself, "we should start the first book now that you're here"

"Wait for us" came a voice from behind the doors before Mad-eye Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Bill, Charlie, Molly Weasley, Oliver Wood, Arthur Weasley, Remus Lupin and a great black dog who I recognised as Sirius.

"Welcome guests! Come find a seat and make yourselves comfortable." Dumbledore announced.

Molly, Arthur, Charlie and Bill all rushed over to Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, Harry and Hermione to pull them all into big hugs. Mad-eye, Cornelius Fudge, Madam Bones, Percy Weasley and Kingsley Shacklebolt all went up to the staff table and conjured up chairs and joined the end after saying polite hellos to the teachers and Dumbledore.

Nymphadora Tonks, Bill, Charlie, Molly Weasley, Oliver Wood, Arthur Weasley, Remus Lupin and Sirius as the great black dog came and joined the Gryffindor table next to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"I will start then." Umbridge declared.

_**Chapter 1 The Boy Who Lived**_

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.**

"You're very welcome" Fred and George said simultaneously trying and slightly failing to look stuck up while a few people chuckled.

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. **

Fred and George looked very shocked and started to pretend to faint on each other. Umbridge looked on very disapprovingly.

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours.**

"They haven't changed much then" Ron said, stifling a chuckle.

**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

Snorts were heard from anyone who had met or even seen Dudley.  
**  
The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. **

"What's their big secret then?" Dean wondered out loud.

**They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. **

"What's wrong with the Potters? They are amazing!" Fred and George yelled out together.

**Mrs Potter was Mrs Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. **

The Ravenclaws and Hermione looked scandalised. "UnDursleyish is not even a word!" Hermione said sounding very offended.

"James was not good-for-nothing!" McGonagall declared.

**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbours would say if the Potters arrived in the street. **

"NO, you're not allowed to prank them, EVER!" Mrs Weasley said looking right at Fred and George who were quietly talking to each other with mischievous looks on their faces.

**The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. **

"My first year, a whole Dursley free year, that was the life" Harry said.

**This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"A child like what exactly, what's wrong with Harry?" Molly said, her eyes closing into slits.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, grey Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work **

Fred, George and Lee gasped, looking surprised, "Most boring tie! How could he!" George said.

**and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

"What a horrid child, how could she think he was any good" Professor Sprout said, looking shocked.  
**  
None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.**

"Muggles are so unobservant, how clueless they are" Malfoy drawled out looking happy with how these people were acting.  
**  
At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs Dursley on the cheek and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. **

"Why do they encourage him, his behaviour wouldn't be tolerated anywhere else!" Professor Sprout said.

**He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.**

It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar - a cat reading a map. For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen - then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. 

"Hey, Fred, I bet you 2 galleons that the tabby cat is McGonagall." George whispered to Fred since he knew his mother wouldn't approve of gambling.

"You're on mate" Fred said, shaking George's hand under the table.

**What could he have been thinking of. It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. **

"McGonagall's glare I bet" George whispered to Fred.

**As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive - no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs. Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

"What's a drill" a pureblood from Ravenclaw asked to the hall.

"It's A hand tool, power tool, or machine with a rotating cutting tip or reciprocating hammer or chisel, used for making holes." Hermione said sounding like she swallowed a dictionary as usual.  
**  
But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks. **

"People in cloaks!" Fred said.

"I know, how dare they wear cloaks in public!" George replied stifling a grin.

**Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes - the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdoes standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! **

"Emerald green! I bet that didn't suit the old man at all! That must be why Dursley hates cloaks!" Lee said, grinning like the Cheshire cat over to Fred and George.

**The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt - these people were obviously collecting for something... yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**

"One track mind" Harry stated.  
**  
Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open- mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. **

The adults looked disapproving at the carelessness. Professor McGonagall said "It's a wonder the Muggles didn't find out about magic. So careless!"

**Most of them had never seen an owl even at night time. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. **

"Sounds like such a lovely morning!" Fred said to the amusement of the hall.

**He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road **

"Wait, he's going to voluntarily walk. Wow, my mind was just blown!" Harry said with a look of fake shock on his face.

**to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

"Oh, it makes more sense now" Harry said.

"Harry, we're impressed!" Fred and George said together grinning.

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch was whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard yes, their son, Harry" Mr. Dursley stopped dead.

"If only" Harry whispered to himself so no one would hear.

**Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

The adults seemed to realise what day this and all looked visibly saddened.

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialling his home number when he changed his mind. **

"Bet he's scared of his wife" Fred said to George and Lee.

**He put the receiver back down and stroked his moustache, thinking... no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name. **

"There's only one family called Potter in the Wizarding world" Professor Dumbledore said vaguely to the hall.

**He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold. **

"Harvey Potter…" Lee said, bringing a hand up to stroke an invisible beard.

"No, I think it's Harold Potter" George said, now copying Lee.

"NO, no, you're both wrong, it's HARRY POTTER!" Fred shouted out.

**There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if he'd had a sister like that... but all the same, those people in cloaks...**

"A sister like what, my mum was perfectly fine" Harry said heatedly.  
**  
He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.  
**  
"Sorry," he grunted,

"He actually knows that word!" Ron said.

**as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passers-by stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!" And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

"Careless, all the Muggles would realise something was going on" McGonagall said slowly seeming to get a bit angry.****

Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.

"NOOOO, Imagination is the BEST!" George cried out soon joined by Fred and Lee.  
**  
As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw - and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look. 

"See that is so McGonagall! No one does a stern look like her! Even as a cat" George whispered to Fred who was worried that he'd lose 2 galleons to George.


	3. The Boy Who Lived Part 2

**A/N - Sorry it's in 2 parts, my mum took my laptop away for ages and I wanted to put something up. R&R PLZ! BTW, hav decided to write all dialog in normal spelling instead of dropping letters and stuff, cause I don't know how everyone speaks in it.**

**Might put up another story with an OC 2 be with Fred cause I love George and Angelina 2gether! What do people think of tht?**

**The Boy Who Lived part 2**

**Was this normal cat behavior. Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

"Such a coward" Came a mutter from Hermione.  
**  
Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!"). **

"Such a terrible boy! He's nothing to be so proud of" Katie Bell said.

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news: "And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin.**

"Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim." "Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight." Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain. Owls flying by daylight. Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place. And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...

"Even fat heads putting it together" Ron said to the amusement of everyone except Mrs Weasley and McGonagall who both scolded him.****

Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er - Petunia, dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you." As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.

"I don't understand how anyone could tolerate those people" Hermione said.****

"No," she said sharply. "Why." "Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..." "So." snapped Mrs. Dursley.

"Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you know... her crowd." Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. 

"He's getting nervous now isn't he" Lee said smirking.

**Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son - he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he." "I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

"What's his name again. Howard, isn't it." "Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me." 

"Harry's a lovely name! It suits you a lot Harry dear" Mrs Weasley said, glowering at the book but beaming over at Harry.

**"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree." He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed.**

While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there.

"OH MY GOD! The cat is still there! How dare that cat stay! Outrageous!" George shouted**.**

"I know right! No cat should be allowed in the same place for more than 2 hours!" Fred shouted back.****

It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.

Was he imagining things. Could all this have anything to do with the Potters. If it did... if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it.

"A pair of.." Lee said.

"socks?" Fred queried.

"glasses?" George asked.

"No, no I think he means… wizards!" Tonks suddenly yelled.

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind... **

"Their kind! How dare that filthy Muggle! Wizards are so much better" Malfoy said sounding smug as per usual.

"Malfoy, there's nothing wrong with Muggles" Professor Burbage said.

**He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on - he yawned and turned over - it couldn't affect them...**

How very wrong he was.

Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. 

"Ok, so I'm thinking I will lose that bet we made Forge, spend my 2 galleons wisely" Fred whispered to George.

**It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.

Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots.  
His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. 

"DUMBLEDORE HAS ENTERED THE BUILDING!" George, Lee, Fred, Tonks, Oliver, Colin, Dennis, Seamus and Dean all shouted.

**This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

Que the cheering from everyone except the obvious.  
**  
Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. **

"Oh I did know, I just didn't care" Dumbledore said cheerfully while people snickered.

**He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known." **

"Here, I know when I've lost" Fred whispered to George, passing him 2 galleons under the table.

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. **

A chorus of wow's or cool's came from the 4 tables.

"What's that thing sir? I've never heard of it before" Hermione said.

"I designed it myself, it's called a deluminator" Dumbledore said to the whole school.

**He clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

"Professor, talking to a cat, were you slightly mad back then in the olden days?" Fred said cheekily.

"FRED/MR. WEASLEY" Mrs Weasley and McGonagall yelled while Professor Dumbledore just chuckled to himself.

**"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall." He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

"Professor, you haven't changed at all!" Katie Bell exclaimed while McGonagall gave a small smirk.  
**  
"How did you know it was me." she asked.**

"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly." 

**"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

"All day. When you could have been celebrating. I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here." Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.

"How do you sniff angrily?" Justin Finch-Fletchley asked.

Fred, George, Lee, Ron and I all started to try and stiff angrily at each other.****

"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently.

"You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no - even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls... shooting stars... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense." 

Dumbledore and other adults who knew Dedalus started laughing since they knew that was something he would do.

**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years." "I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, **

"Oh My Gosh, in broad dayli…" Fred and George started saying before being interrupted.

"No boys!, stop with the sarcastic comments" Mrs Weasley said strictly while Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet giggled together.

**not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumours." She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, **

Everyone seemed to realize what day this is and shot me sympathetic looks which I ignored.

**the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore." **

**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop." **

Colin Creevey squealed saying "Oh, I love lemon drops! I haven't had one for ages though"

**"A what." **

**"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of" **

**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. **

"It's always a time for lemon drops" Colin said sounding shocked.

**"As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone -" **

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name. All this 'You- Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort."**

Everyone flinched except Professor Dumbledore, Lupin, Professor McGonagall and Harry.

"Oh, come on, fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself" Harry said while the dog seemed to be barking in agreement.

**Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort **(more flinching)** 's name.**

"I know you haven't, said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring."But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of." 

A chorus of "Too true" and "That's right!" came from almost everyone except Slytherin's, Umbridge and Snape.

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have." **

**"Only because you're too - well - noble to use them." **

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

"TMI professor," Colin Creevey said.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumours that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying. About why he's disappeared. About what finally stopped him." **

Everyone seemed to suddenly turn their heads to where Harry was sitting, just staring at him trying to get a glimpse at his scar again while he was just staring down at his lap and Ron, Hermione and Ginny were glaring generally at the whole hall trying to get them to stop staring.

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now.**

Despite the tense atmosphere Fred and George said "We know that stare extremely well!" a few people gave a weak chuckle while McGonagall gave them half-heartedly said stare.

**It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.**

"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are - are - that they're - dead." 

Harry now basically had his head in his lap trying to avoid the sympathetic stares her was receiving from everyone except the people who knew he hated it.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

"Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it...  


Harry caught McGonagall's eye and gave a weak smile to show he appreciated that she cared. The great black dog meanwhile was pushing his head onto Harry's lap, whining sp Harry would stroke him.

**Oh, Albus..." Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know... I know..." he said heavily.**

Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But - he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone."

Everyone who had stopped staring, stared staring again. Harry had had enough and kind of yelled "ENOUGH! I don't know for one why Voldemort, I'm saying the name, disappeared that night. And I don't want anyone's sympathy! So stop staring!" after that he sat down and started to stroke the dog.  
**  
Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

"It's - it's true." faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little boy.

Less people stared now, only ¼ of the hall now, mostly Slytherin's who thought Voldemort was right, were wondering how he did it.  
**  
It's just astounding... of all the things to stop him... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive." **

**"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know." **

"Which means he does know" Harry exclaimed angrily still sore from Dumbledore ignoring him.

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch.**

"Well Dumbledore is quite an odd man" Dennis Creevey said before being hushed by his brother.  
**  
It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way." **

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places." **

**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

"Wish you didn't bother" Harry muttered to himself although Ron and Hermione heard, who then gave him half worried, half curious looks since they knew he didn't like it with the Dursleys, but didn't know how bad it was.

**"You don't mean - you can't mean the people who live here." cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four.**

"Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"

"See, even Professor McGonagall agrees, they're horrible!" Harry said, looking grumpy knowing this was the conversation leading to him being placed at the Dursleys for the next 10 years.

**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter." **

"A LETTER! ARE YOU MAD, HOW DID YOU THINK A LETTER WOULD EXPLAIN EVERYTHING!" Mrs Weasley roared, while other protective females – Hermione, Ginny, Angelina, Katie, Alicia, Cho and all female (except Umbridge) member of staff.

**"A letter." repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter. These people will never understand him! He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future - there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!" **

"Unfortunately" Harry said, looking very sour about his fame.

Snape meanwhile was wondering whether Harry really hated his fame, but deciding Harry was just lying he went back to peacefully hating him.

**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! You see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it." **

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes - yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore." She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

Fred and George just started laughing then while people near them moved over slightly.  
**  
"Hagrid's bringing him." **

**"You think it - wise - to trust Hagrid with something as important as this."**

"**I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

Harry, Ron and Hermione all chorused "Me too!"****

"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that." A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky - and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.

The dog barked and Lee said "That is sooo cool!, I want one!"****

If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.

The girls all cooed while Harry just blushed.

"You were so small Harry, fit in one of my hands!" Hagrid said.  
**  
"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle."**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sit," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black**

Some people started muttering, "Does he mean the escaped prisoner!" a 3nd year called Romilda Vane called out.

**lent it to me. I've got him, sir." **

**"No problems, were there." **

**"No, sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol." **

More cooing from the females of the room (except the obvious again).

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

"Is that where -." whispered Professor McGonagall.

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."

Harry looked even grumpier hearing that.

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?" **

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. **

"Wow! That must be useful!" Colin Creevey said "I always get lost!"

**Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with." Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.**

"Could I - could I say good-bye to him, sir." asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.

The dog howled almost like it was offended.  
**  
"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!" **

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles -" **

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two.**

"You left him on the doorstep" Mrs Weasley said, slowly getting angrier the more she thought about it. Others looked angry as well.

"A death Eater could have come along and taken him! Or he could have caught a chill, it's the end of October for Merlin's sake!" She ranted to Dumbledore.

**For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations." 

**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir." Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

"I so still want a giant motorbike!" Lee commentated while the dog barked loudly.  
**  
"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

"How rude Professor!" George said sounding shocked, trying to get rid of some of the tension in the room. It sort of worked as a few people smiled.

"WEASLEY!" McGonagall yelled.  
**  
Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.

"Needed more than luck to survive there" Harry said, looking annoyed.

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley... He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!"**

"That's the end of the chapter, Professor Dumbledore, you should read next" Umbridge said.

People were wondering how Harry grew up seeing as he hated the Dursley's, and wondering if the book would mention any accidental magic.


	4. The Vanishing Glass

**A/N another chapter down! Hopefully I'll be a bit faster updating! Might be a bit faster if there was more reviews! Hint, hint ;) Broken up for summer now so lots of free time.**

"This chapter is called The Vanishing Glass" Professor Dumbledore said.

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. **

"Such boring people!" Eddie Carmichael a Ravenclaw 6th year said. Many others nodded in agreement.

**The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-coloured bonnets **

Que snorting from basically everyone.

"Bet he looked… interesting" commented Ginny, hiding her snort as her mother was glaring at her and her brothers.

**- but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.**

Some people were confused, they thought he was still there but maybe he left and lived somewhere else some people thought.

"Oh, are you not there then Harry!" Lily Moon a 5th year said.

"I'm there" Harry said stiffly hoping his cupboard didn't come up but knowing it probably would.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.**

"Up! Get up! Now!"

"What a lovely way to wake up in the morning" George said although him and Fred looked unpleased at how Harry was woken up – he was practically family!  
**  
****Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.******

**"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

Some people were amazed at hoe good his memory was seeing as he was 1 year old when he was on the motorbike.****

**His aunt was back outside the door.******

**"Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

"How rude! He was just waking up!" Mrs Weasley said, hoping Harry wasn't treated too badly by those vile people.****

**"Nearly," said Harry.******

**"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

"Wait, they made you cook" Hermione said with a frown while others muttered angrily and Harry looked sheepish.****

**Harry groaned.******

**"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.**

"He didn't SAY anything!" Ron yelled angrily.****

**"Nothing, nothing..."******

**Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them**

Ron shivered slightly at the mention of spiders.

**, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them**

"And how is that relevant" Fred said while Harry looked uncomfortable.

**, and that was where he slept.  
**

Silence in the hall until,

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO LEAVE HIM WITH THOSE DREADFULL PEOPLE! LOOK WHAT THEY DID! IN A CUPBOARD! YOU SHOULD HAVE HAD SOMEONE CHECK UP ON HIM ONCE IN A WHILE!" McGonagall yelled at Dumbledore who had lost the twinkle in his eyes and looked solemn. Mrs Weasley, Madam Pomfrey, Hermione, all the Weasley's, Gryffindor's, most Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuff's all agreed with McGonagall and looked furious with the Dursely's so were glaring at the book.

Harry meanwhile was extremely uncomfortable with the stares he was receiving and almost certain that Madam Pomfrey would want him to go to the hospital wing for a check up.

"Harry.." Hermione said in a small voice "Why didn't you tell us"

"I don't live" Many people flinched at the use of the word live "in the cupboard anymore, when my Hogwarts letters started coming the Dursleys moved me into a bedroom, and it never exactly came up in conversation did it" He said.

"They had a spare bedroom and you were in a cupboard, tell me this is the worst it gets" Hermione said while Harry wouldn't meet her eyes.

People who still didn't believe him that Voldemort returned were feeling sympathy but remembered that they thought he was a filthy liar.

"Can we just carry on" Harry said loudly still looking at his lap and trying to avoid everyone's eyes.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. **

"Muggle things" Hermione said when some people look confused.

**Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favourite punching bag was **

"Don't say Harry" Ginny whispered to herself terrified learning about how her hero grew up.

**Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.**

"BEST SEEKER EVER!" Oliver Wood shouted looking around as if daring anyone to disagree.  
**  
****Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard,**

Many dark looks were directed to the book as if hoping it would reach the Dursely's and they would suffer.

**but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. **

Madam Pomfrey looked over to Harry, tutting to herself and said "Need to eat more"

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, **

"Did they buy you anything new?" Ron asked though hoping the answer wasn't what everyone thought it would be. Everyone's suspicions were confirmed when Harry didn't nod or shake his head and looking back down to his lap.

Meanwhile Snape was thinking that Harry's childhood was a lot like his own and the books were all true so… had he been bullying Lily Potter's son for well nothing.

**and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. **

"Everyone's bigger than you Harry, scrawny little thing you are." Fred said trying and failing to wipe the frown off his face.

"FRED!" Mrs Weasley berated.

**Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. **

The dog barked loudly then and snarled towards the book.

Mrs Weasley and Madam Pomfrey looked towards Harry as if checking to see if his nose looked crooked or broken like Professor Dumbledore's.

**The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. **

"You liked your scar. But you hate it now" Dean said, knowing he hated it since he always covered it with his fringe.

"I didn't know what it meant back then! It made me different and it was something the Dursely's couldn't take away." Harry explained looking up now that the awkward questions had finished.

**He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.**

"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions."

"WHAT! You didn't know about You-Know-Who. CAR CRASH! Lily and James would never have died from a car crash!" McGonagall exploded sounding outraged.

The Ravenclaw's and Hermione were all outraged at the no questions thing.

"But how will you learn if you can't ask questions!" Orla Quirke a 2nd year Ravenclaw stated.  
**  
Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.******

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.******

**"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

"It won't work. His hair is untameable!" Ginny stated trying to calm down.  
**  
****About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way - all over the place.******

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother.**

More dark looks towards the book at the mention of Harry having to cook.

**Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. **

*Snorts* "Gorgeous" Kevin Whitby Hufflepuff 2nd year said.

**Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel**

*Louder snorts*

**- Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

*Outright laughter* "Oh Harry, when did you get this funny?" Ron said between laughs.  
**  
****Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.******

**"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

"What the Hell! 36 presents! That's even more than I get" Malfoy said to the disbelief of basically everyone else.****

**"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."******

**"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

"I hope you didn't eat too quickly dear" Mrs Weasley fretted as Madam Pomfrey tutted again.****

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right"**

"That's no way to deal with a child! That will just make him worse!" McGonagall said, realising how right she was about these people.****

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty... thirty..."**

"Good Gracious he can't even add 2 to a number!" Bill exclaimed feeling that Harry should never have to set foot there again.

**"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."

Uncle Vernon chuckled.

"He shouldn't encourage him!" Remus said loudlyannoyed that he couldn't have taken Harry in with him, but he knew that could never happen, not with his furry little problem.****

**"Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father.'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

*Snorts of disapproval from everyone*  
**  
****At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.**

"This'll be good I hope, anything to make her angry" Fred said with a hint of malice in his voice.  
**  
****"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

"He has a name and it's HARRY! Not too hard to remember" Hermione said thinking of all the curses she knew and which would be best to use on the Dursleys.  
**  
****Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**

"Harry, don't be mean, Mrs Figg is a nice lady" Hermione reproved.

"Well, back then I didn't know she knew about magic, even I didn't know about magic" Harry reminded her.  
**  
****"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.******

**"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

"Is that the one you bl…" Ron started to say.

"Yes" Harry simply said back trying and failing to contain his laughter.  
**  
****"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."******

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there - or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

That book should be on fire from the glares it was getting now.****

**"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"******

**"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.******

**"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**

"Not going to work now, young Harry, you've got much to learn" Lee said while learning over the table to pat on his head lightly like someone patting a baby's head.****

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.******

**"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

"How in Merlin's saggy left…" "BILL" "could an 11 year old boy blow up a house" Bill snarled back at the book mostly ignoring his mother's looks.****

**"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.******

**"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "... and leave him in the car..."**

"He is not a dog, you can't just leave him in the car" Hermione saidwhile Snuffles growled fiercely.  
**  
****"That car's new; he's not sitting in it alone..."**

"Oh, because the car is more important than Harry" Charlie said, astonished at how The-Boy-Who-Lived grew up.  
**  
****Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying - it had been years since he'd really cried - but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

"Brat" Malfoy drawled out to the astonishment of everyone. "Hey I'm not as spoilt as him!"  
**  
****"Dinky Duddydums, **

Everyone in the hall burst out laughing at that "Dinky Duddydums! LOL!" Fred shouted while laughing with no restraints.

**don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

"I... don't... want... him... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.

The laughter stopped and everyone except some Slytherins (aka Malfoy and cronies) glared back at the book giving it the dirtiest looks they could muster.  
**  
****Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. **

The dog, Remus, Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked furious after the word rat and Dumbledore look graver than usual, however no one noticed as they were laughing at the thought of someone looking like a rat.

**He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

"Of course, can't be seen crying in front of your "friends"" Hermione said doing the little quotey finger at the word friends.****

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. **

The dog whined and covered its face with its paws and Remus looked saddened that Harry couldn't remember the time when the Marauders and Lily had taken him to the zoo when he was about 6 months old.

**His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, 

"NOOO, Harry might be"

"Infected too!" Fred and George whined looking horrified while the rest of the hall just rolled their eyes at the twin's antics.

**"I'm warning you now, boy - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**

More dark glares toward the book.

"He better not have done that!" Hermione said glowering.

"Hermione, you know he didn't since I came to HOGWARTS!" Harry yelled.

**"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly..."******

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.**

"Not many people believe me now about anything" Harry thought looking around the hall and thinking that only about 2/3 of the people there believed him, and about 1/3 of them were on Voldemort's side anyway.  
**  
****The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**

"ACCIDENTAL MAGIC!" Most of the hall shouted.  
**  
****Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." **

"oh, that's…" Parvati Patil said suddenly very fashion conscious.

**Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

"Petunia should have known it was accidental magic! Her sister was a witch!" Snape and Dumbledore thought.****

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls). **

Any fashion conscious people in the hall blanched and looked ill while everyone else just knew how awful it would have looked.

**The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.  
**

"He shouldn't have been punished in the first place!" Hermione said angrily, a few sparks flying out the end of her wand that was clutched in her hand.

"Thank god you didn't have to wear that!" Lavender said looking relieved.

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. **

"Wooh! Did you fly or something!" A Hufflepuff first year said over the sudden chatter of the hall.

**The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.**

"Really, mid-jump. We obviously didn't teach him well enough!" George said looking ashamed at the attempt of an excuse.****

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. **

"Oh, you just jinxed it Harry, with your luck something will go terribly wrong" Ron said looking worried thinking about what could go wrong.

**It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.**

"Harry! Don't be rude!" Hermione reprimanded him.

"Hermione! That was 5 years ago!" Harry reminded her while she blushed slightly.****

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favourite subjects.**

"Harry, have you ever realised that Dursley likes to complain about you? Because I think he might" Lee said seriously.

**This morning, it was motorcycles.**

"... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.

"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."

Almost everyone slapped their hands to their headsin exasperation while Ron moaned "Why Harry, why would you say that!"****

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a moustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"**

The black dog barked looking as superior as a dog can.  
**  
****Dudley and Piers sniggered.******

**"I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."******

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

"Harry, where can we find one of these cartoons?" George asked already silently plotting with Fred and Lee.

Before Harry could reply Molly shouted "NO CARTOONS BOYS!" with a terrifying expression on her face.  
**  
****It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. **

The girls in the hall tutted in disgust at the Dursleys while Molly was looking at Harry with a critical eye obviously thinking that he was too skinny.

**It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

The hall just burst out laughing releasing some of the tension.****

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favourite hobby of hitting him. **

Que growls from some Gryffindors, teachers, Weasley's, some Hufflepuffs and some Ravenclaws.

**They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his Knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.**

Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.

A first year near the front just face palmed and said "AHH, Harry, you just jinxed it!" before realising everyone was staring at them and blushed bright red along with Harry who was thinking along the same lines.

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can - but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**

"I hope those dreadful boys don't disturb it!" Molly fretted.  
**  
****Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.******

**"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

"Horrendous people! They shouldn't disturb creatures like that!" Professor Kettleburn said angrily.  
**  
****"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.******

**"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.******

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself - no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

"Comparing yourself with a snake, really mate?" Ron said, quite amused but still angry at the reminder of the cupboard.****

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.******

**It winked.**

People who didn't know that Harry could speak to snakes looked shocked at that.  
**  
****Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

Ron just shook his head laughing slightly, "You just wink back like that is completely normal"  
**  
****The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:******

**"I get that all the time."******

**"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."******

**The snake nodded vigorously.******

**"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.******

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.******

**Boa Constrictor, Brazil.**

"Totally normal conversation there" Hermione said, amused at how Harry just continued talking to the snake like it was normal for someone who didn't know about magic.  
**  
****"Was it nice there?"******

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"******

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"**

"Oh, shut up you little rat!" Neville surprisingly said, suddenly turning red as everyone turned to look at him.

"WE CAN CORRUPT HIM YET!" Lee, George and Fred yelled out high-fiving a stunned Neville.  
**  
****Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.**

"He was waddling just like a penguin" Harry said seriously before letting out a small laugh.****

**"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. **

"Someone should give him a fainting fancy even though there are still a few problems…" Fred whispered to George grinning when he gave him the thumbs up.

**Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**

Colin and Dennis started bouncing in excitement "What did you do Harry?" Colin asked even more excited.****

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. **

"WICKED! I wish my accidental magic was as cool as that!" Dennis said to Colin although the whole hall heard since he was so excited and yelled the sentence.

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.**

As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come... Thanksss, amigo."

"Such a nice snake, thanking you Harrykins" George said to Harry trying to look innocent although everyone could tell he and Fred were planning something.  
**  
****The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.******

**"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

Someone from the Hufflepuff table was heard to whisper mysteriously "Magic…"  
**  
****The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. **

"Those two are such drama queens!" Molly said hoping Harry wasn't bullied by them but already knowing he was.

**But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

Almost everyone groaned knowing Harry would get in major trouble with the walrus.

Snape meanwhile was thinking that Harry's childhood was just like his, but still Potter spawn, he thought, I bet he loves all this attention.  
**  
****Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

"THEY CAN'T DO THAT! KEEPING YOU IN A CUPBOARD WITH NO FOOD, NO WONDER YOU'RE SO SKINNY!" Molly vented and by the looks of it Madam Pomfrey wanted to start ranting as well.  
**  
****Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.****  
**

No wonder he's so good at sneaking around the castle at night Snape thought.

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead. **

Sympathetic looks went Harry's way.

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

"No questions, how will he learn without asking questions?" Hermione silently ranted.****

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family. **

The dog whimpered and Remus started stroking his head both looking guilty and saddened.

As if knowing what they were thinking Harry whispered to them "It's not your fault".

**Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. **

Flitwick reddened slightly while some people looked at him.

**After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

"No manners at all" Molly fretted.  
**  
****At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

"Gred, should we go disagree with them some time" Fred asked.

"Oh yes Forge, I would enjoy that" George replied.

"That is the end of the chapter, who will read next?" Professor Dumbledore asked amidst the glares from Molly and McGonagall.


End file.
